Wireless Federation

BTRC announces national 3G mobile licence auction in June 2012 (Bangladesh)

On 11.29.11, In Mobile, By Editor

The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has reportedly announced a national 3G UMTS mobile licence auction to be held in June 2012. According to reports, Zia Ahmed, Head of BTRC has said that they have shortlisted the Indian wing of UK-based PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL) and US-based Nera Economic Consulting, as consultants for conducting the auction. He added that 3G licence bids would be accepted from both domestic as well as overseas bidders. Further, in the event that that a new entrant would win a 3G concession, the BTRC would also consider its application for a 2G licence.

As per sources, the state-owned mobile operator Teletalk will be allowed to launch its 3G services based on the W-CDMA/HSPA network technology on 26 March 2012 for an exclusive period of six months ending in September 2012. However, reports reveal that while Teletalk will not be required to compete in the June auction, it will need to pay a cost for the commercial spectrum which would be equal to the highest bid. The mobile operators expected to bid in the auction include GrameenPhone, Robi, Banglalink and Airtel.

Further, reports suggest that Teletalk has said that it will have an initial capacity for 1.7 million users which it aims to increase significantly to around three million users by March 2012. Mujibur Rahman, Managing Director, Teletalk, is hopeful that that the six-month 3G exclusivity period will help generate interest amongst the users, increasing their subscriber base, as the operators participating in the 3G auction in June will not be permitted to launch their services before September.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: 3G • Airtel • Bangladesh • Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) • Banglalink • GrameenPhone • India • Robi • Teletalk

Uganda government to renew licence based on Quality of Service (Africa)

On 11.22.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Uganda’s telecom companies have reportedly been issued a warning that the licence renewal applications will be considered on the basis of the quality of service (QoS) offered. According to reports, Nyombi Thembo, State Minister (Information Technology), has said that there is no way they will renew a licence for a player offering poor services. He added that the government’s aim is to guarantee value for money by driving improvements in the quality of the services offered to the customers.

As per sources, the report on QoS released by the Uganda Communication Commission last week reflected the poor performance of all the mobile network operators in the region wherein all six operators exceeded the maximum 2 percent rate of calls blocked or dropped. A blocked call is a failed call attempt due to network failure, where as a dropped call is one which gets connected successfully but is terminated ahead of time by the provider. MTN Uganda had the highest number of blocked at 11.1 percent while Airtel Uganda had the highest number of blocked calls at 15.2 percent.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Airtel • licence renewal • MTN • Nyombi Thembo • Quality of Service • Uganda • Uganda Telecom

Airtel launches new plans for Corporates, SMEs and Postpaid Users (Nigeria)

On 10.14.11, In Mobile Operators, By Editor

Airtel Nigeria, a leading global telecommunications company, has launched new packages for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), corporates, postpaid and BlackBerry users. The new packages offer users attractive tariffs with increased data volumes providing subscribers more affordable access to data enabled services.

According to reports, Rajiv Sehgal, Vice-President and Head Enterprise and Postpaid Business, said that the package was conceived to address the needs of its customers in various segments namely: Corporate Organisations, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), individual postpaid customers and BlackBerry users.

He further added that there were three distinctive categories for corporate organizations, namely Corporate Plus; Corporate Pro and Corporate Premium, with each of them consisting of their own unique voice, SMS and data tariffs. Also, free talk minutes, SMS and data of up to 1GB is available. Further, customers under a Close User Group (CUG) of 100 staff and above can make Airtel to Airtel calls for 17k/sec (USD 0.001) and 25k/sec (USD 0.0015) to other networks.

For the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), there are two plans – SME Plus and SME Pro. Both plans include discounted tariffs in voice (including international calls) for 17k/sec (USD 0.001) and 30k/sec (USD 0.0018), SMS and data. In addition, there is free airtime, complimentary data and up 30 free SMS’s. In order to completely utilize this plan, the SME is required to have 10 to 99 lines under the Close User Group (CUG).

The retail or individual category consists of four plans; the Advance plan (annual), Intermediate plan (monthly), Basic and Family plans. These offer free calls, SMS and data as well as up to 150 free CUG minutes. Under these plans users can make discounted call at the rate of 15k/sec (USD 0.001) for Airtel to Airtel and 25k/sec (USD 0.0015) to other networks.

Sources claim that Airtel’s Chief Operating Officer, Deepak Srivastava, said that Airtel is committed to partnering and supporting initiatives that will help boost the Nigerian economy and also empower and enrich Nigerians. He stated that they also recognise that the corporate world is just as important for growth and development, therefore, the need to empower the cooperate sector with telecoms offerings that will make their life and business more enjoyable and profitable became necessary.

Filed under:Mobile Operators Tagged with: Airtel • Blackberry • Deepak Srivastava • Niger • Nigeria • postpaid • Price Plans

Airtel 3G services now across more regions of Himachal Pradesh (India)

On 09.01.11, In Mobile Operators, Mobile services, By Editor

Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, has announced the availability of its 3G services in Dharamshala, Mandi and Manali. Airtel had recently launched services in Shimla, Solan, Baddi & Parwanoo.

Through this, Airtel mobile customers across Himachal Pradesh will be able to experience the 3G advantage and enjoy better services including fast mobile internet access, Mobile TV, video calling, video streaming and social networking. Airtel also offers high speed USB data cards that provide customers with 3G access on laptops. Sources claim, Mr. Shishir Kumar, CEO, Upper North, Bharti Airtel, believes that Airtel 3G will lead the data and internet revolution in Himachal Pradesh, bringing their customers in the state closer to an all new world of possibilities. Airtel 3G mobile customers in the country will also be able to leverage Airtel internet on 3G to make international video calls.

Filed under:Mobile Operators,Mobile services Tagged with: 3G • Airtel • India

Bhart Airtel hopes to launch 4G services in India along with the rest of the world

On 08.31.11, In Mobile Operators, By Editor

Bharti Airtel Ltd., a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, may launch 4G technology for mobiles in India sooner than expected. Sources claim that Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel, believes that the launch of 4G services in India will happen in close vicinity with the launch in other countries. 4G is expected to take the mobile industry by storm, with every network operator eyeing it as a means of acquiring more customers and increasing their market share.

Airtel is a dominant player in the Indian telecom market with around 170 million subscribers. Reportedly Mr. Kapoor has mentioned the low penetration of 3G devices as an obstacle for mobile operators providing 3G services. He further adds that the language of the content used in the country is not very conducive.

Filed under:Mobile Operators Tagged with: 3G • 4G • Airtel • ASIA • Bharti • India • Sanjay Kapoor

Airtel Zambia to enter remote areas of Western Province (Zambia)

On 08.30.11, In Mobile, Mobile Operators, By Editor

In an effort to target the large base of rural subscribers in Zambia, southern African mobile operator Airtel Zambia has begun infrastructure work in the remote areas of its western province. With this move, Airtel aims to maintain its market share by bringing connectivity to people living in rural areas accessible only by water. As per reports, Airtel Zambia managing director Mr. Fayaz King said that they would first be entering areas such as Mutomena, Lukena, Liuwa, Libonda Palace and Mishulundu in Western Zambia. He further stated that the network expansion comes as part of the initiative taken up by the company over the past 10 months in order to provide services to some of the most remote areas of the country.

According to reports, rural areas covered by Airtel in the last 10 months are in Luapula, Northern, North-Western, Eastern, Southern, Central and some rural parts of the Copperbelt like Lufwanyama, Masaiti, and Mpongwe districts. So far 88 isolated rural areas and communities have been connected by Airtel in Zambia .

Filed under:Mobile,Mobile Operators Tagged with: Africa • Airtel • Fayaz King • Libonda Palace • Liuwa • Lukena • Mishulundu • Mutomena • Zambia

Rwanda completes $95m fibre network

On 03.18.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Rwanda has reportedly completed construction of a 2,300 kilometre fibre optic network that links the country to undersea cables running along the east African coast.

The project which was commenced in October 2009 at a cost of $95 million, was set up to increase access to broadband services and attracts foreign investment through business process outsourcing.

According to Ignace Gatare, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, the fibre optic project will initially be operated by an independently-managed government entity on an open access model to accommodate infrastructure sharing with the private ICT services providers. The ultimate goal is to progressively transfer the business to a private business.

Rwanda is a land-locked country with Internet penetration of only 12%. However, Minister Gatare states that the ICT sector in the country generated revenues of US$143 million in 2009, rising by 12% in 2010.

The fibre network connects to undersea cable system at Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salam in Tanzania.

The Minister added that initiatives to activate the links have been launched and discussions between Rwanda telecommunication operators that include MTN Rwanda, Tigo Rwanda and Rwandatel and regional cable operators are ongoing.

At a Senate meeting, the minister was asked to increase the awareness to the population on the importance of the use of ICT and made several recommendations, including to extend ICT infrastructure, especially in rural areas; to put more effort in the use of ICT in all sectors and services; to sensitize the population on cyber security of individual data; and to emphasize the quality of education in ICT.

Elsewhere, Google has extended its Gmail SMS chat functionality to add three more African countries to its growing coverage list. Mobile users in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi can now use Google’s email service via SMS texting.

Gmail users can send and receive SMS messages for free using the service. Non-Gmail users can reply via SMS for regular text charging rates. The networks supporting the service are MTN, Uganda Telecom and Orange (Uganda), Vodacom (Tanzania), and Airtel and TNM (Malawi).

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Airtel • east African coast • Google • ICT • Ignace Gatare • Kenya • Malawi • Minister of Information and Communication Technology • Mombasa • MTN • MTN Rwanda • Oerator • Orange • Rwanda • Rwandatel • Tanzania • Tigo Rwanda • TNM • Uganda • Uganda Telecom • undersea cables • Vodacom

NLA files lawsuit against Airtel Ghana

On 03.17.11, In Mobile, By Editor

National Lottery Authority (NLA) has filed a lawsuit against Airtel Ghana over the Freedom to Dream promotion.

According to Airtel, the promotion is no different from similar promotions it has run in the past. Country Director of Airtel, Philip Sowah stated news that the National Lottery Authority had initiated court action to halt a further running of the promotion came as a surprise.

Sowah maintained that it was not necessary to seek any permission from the NLA. The National Lottery Authority has gone to court seeking a perpetual injunction restraining Airtel from continuing to run its Freedom to Dream promotion.

The NLA argues the promotion is run without recourse to the country’s laws. According to Reagan Twum Barimah, Public Affairs Officer at the NLA, the suit is not designed to kill the drive of the firm to attract subscribers, but the Freedom to Dream promotion ceases to be one when premium charges apply.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Airtel • Airtel Ghana • Freedom to Dream promotion • Ghana • National Lottery Authority • NLA • operator • Philip Sowah • Public Affairs Officer • Reagan Twum Barimah

Bharti Airtel fails to delist Zambian shares

On 03.14.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Zambia’s Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE) has again rejected Bharti Airtel’s request to force its minority shareholders in selling shares to the company as the company is planning to remove itself from the stock exchange. As per LuSE, the company had still not followed its procedures for a delisting.

The LuSE added that it also objected to a letter sent to the 2.5% remain shareholders informing them that it could compel them to sell their shares at US$0.14 per share whether they liked it or not. Local commentators report that the company is being urged to raise the offer to US$0.23 per share.

This was the third time that the Stock Exchange had refused a delisting request from Bharti Airtel – which acquired the Zambian network following its purchase of Zain’s African networks.

Bharti Airtel has brought up 97% of the outstanding shares in the company, and once it had passed the 9% limit should have been able to force the remaining shareholders to sell to it, but two previous attempts were blocked by the Stock Exchange.

The company was listed on the stock exchange in June 2008 when it was still known as Celtel. It was only the 19th company to be listed on the local stock exchange at the time.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Africa • Airtel • Bharti Airtel • Celtel • delist • Lusaka Stock Exchange • LuSE • Mobile • USA • Zain • Zambia

TRAI receives maximum subscriber complaints against Bharti Airtel (India)

On 03.10.11, In Mobile, By Editor

India’s largest mobile operator, Bharti Airtel has topped in the subscriber complaints related to billing, metering and tariff-related issues and activation of value-added services without customer consent. In the last three years, TRAI received almost 3,571 complaints from Bharti Airtel subscribers.

Other telecom major Vodafone received 1,896 complaints. However, Tata DoCoMo and Idea Cellular were on the bottom of chart with 1,239 and 925 complaints, respectively.

The total number of complaints received during the last three years stood at 10,561. The regulator has forwarded these complaints to the concerned service providers for appropriate action.

According to Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been receiving complaints against telecom service providers, alleging various problems which include billing, metering and tariff related issues and activation of chargeable value added services without explicit consent of the customer.

TRAI has notified Telecom Consumers Protection and redressal of Grievances Regulations, 2007 which makes it mandatory for every service provider to establish a three-tier system consisting of call center, nodal officer and appellate authority for redressal of grievances of telecom consumers.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: 2007 • Airtel • Bharti Airtel • Billing • ctivation of value-added services • Idea Cellular • India • metering and tariff-related issues • Minister of State for Communications • Mobile • Sachin Pilot • Tata DoCoMo • Telecom Consumers Protection and redressal of Grievances Regulations • Telecom Regulatory Authority of India • Trai • Vodafone